TO ASSESS THE COGNITIVE AND PSYCHOSOCIAL BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS AMONG DEAF AND DUMB CHILDREN IN SELECTED DEAF AND DUMB SCHOOLS

Communication is the process through which one can interact with world. For a child with hearing loss, the biggest problem is learning to communicate. Because she/he cannot hear words clearly, it is much more difcult for her /him to learn to speak. So she/he has trouble both understanding what people want, and telling them what she/he wants. This can lead to loneliness, frequent disappointments and misunderstandings, both for the child and others. It is no surprise, then, that children with hearing loss sometimes are slow in learning to relate to other people, feel lonely or forgotten, or develops behaviour problems. Numerous studies shows that the development of deaf and hard of hearing students is faced with special challenges and there is increased prevalence of psychosocial problems in deaf and hard of hearing children. There is also incidence of declined cognitive function in deaf and dumb children to obstacles in learning and language development. Objectives: 1. To assess the cognitive problems of deaf and dumb children in selected deaf and dumb school at Kolhapur. 2. To assess the psychosocial behavioural problems of deaf and dumb children in selected deaf and dumb school at Kolhapur. 3. To nd correlation between cognitive problems and psychosocial behavioural problems among deaf and dumb children. 4.To nd the association between cognitive problems with selected socio demographic variables. 5. To nd association between psychosocial behavioural problems with selected socio demographic variables. Method: The research approach used for the study was Quantitative Descriptive Survey approach, A Quasi-experimental, Non Experimental Descriptive Research Design was used, which consisted a group of 87 samples who were selected by using Non Probability Purposive Sampling Technique. Data was collected by using Socio Demographic Variables, Cognitive Function Test Based on Raven's Matrices and Modied Conner's Teachers Rating Scale. Results revealed that majority of deaf and dumb chil Result: dren having cognitive as well as psychosocial behavioural problems and there is strong positive correlation between cognitive and psychosocial behavioural problems. There is association found between cognitive problems and selected socio demographic variables such as age, type of family and mode of communication. Also there is association found between psychosocial behavioural problems with selected socio demographic variables. The study Interpretation And Conclusion: revealed that majority of deaf and dumb children were having poor cognitive function i.e. having more cognitive problems, as well as most of the deaf and dumb children having high psychosocial behavioral problems.